Tain lived in a lavish home with his son Elim Garak and Garak’s assumed parents Mila and Tolan in the Paldar Sector of Cardassia City. During Garak’s schooling, he kept a close eye on Garak’s results and punished him for failures. Tain removed Garak from the Bamarren Institute for State Intelligence prematurely much to the frustration of the first prefect so that Garak could begin his work in the Obsidian Order post haste. Tain had Garak assassinate his arch-nemesis Proconsul Merrok and Garak became one of Tain's most trusted and dependable operative until he defied Tain’s instruction to desist in an illicit relationship with a woman named Palandine. Tain then had Garak exiled from Cardassia following the Cardassian withdrawal from Bajor in 2369. Shortly after Tain retired as head of the Obsidian Order holding the distinction of being the only head of the Order to survive long enough to give up the job. (DS9novel: A Stitch in Time; STreference: The Visual Dictionary)